What are the long-term investment risks and rewards of buying a mobile home in a park?
Are mobile homes worth buying? That’s what home-seekers (not flippers) want to know. Are mobile homes a good product, a good investment, a good alternative way to beat the affordable housing crisis? Do buyers get their money’s worth?
Living in a typical for-profit mobile home park is much more complicated than newcomers, and even too many old-timers, may realize. Are customers getting a false sense of security and stability?
Reframe the question to: “How does paying for a home I own, but renting the land it sits upon, compare to other forms of shelter, over the longer-term?”
By asking the right question, we can get the good answers. One emerging trend is increased public awareness of the risks of renting land in a mobile home park – a park that may change management and cause home values to drop far below what was originally paid.
Some mobile home parks are quite attractive and affordable compared to nearby alternatives, but that is just the beginning. Mobile home buyers need to think about the middle and the end if they care about their savings and financial prosperity.
What may seem like a savings in the first few years may turn into a loss in the following years. Buyers should ask themselves: “What are the chances of that happening to me? Is it worth the risk? If I take the risk, how can I manage the loss if the investment turns against me?”
The lenders, real estate brokers and landlord’s employees all make a profit, but what did they fail to mention? Ask: “Are they telling me everything I should know?”
Top 12 Issues for Mobile Home Buyers in Parks
- Location: The future depends on where the mobile home sits
- The hidden costs of buying a mobile home
- Pros and cons, do’s and don’ts of buying a mobile home
- Short term, move-in, “get started” discounts and deals
- What are the risks?
- Never “walk away”
- Retiring in a mobile home
- Comparing mobile homes in parks to other forms of housing (comprehensive table included)
- What is different about the house?
- What is different about renting land?
- Your dependency on landlord goodwill
- Minor money-saving tricks and tips